Tonkichi
Tonkichi (トンキチ?, Tonkichi) is a character in FLCL Progressive. He is an elderly person and a member of the Bureau of Interstellar Immigration. Tonkichi works at an amusement park as Mr. Dodo, which is later revealed to be a secret weapon intended for use against Medical Mechanica. Profile Tonkichi's true identity is largely unknown until late in the Progressive series when the Bureau begins putting plans into motion. He hires Marco Nogata and uses him as a test subject for a ride in the park that can cause N.O. channels to act up. This ride becomes an integral part of the weapon, allowing for an in-depth study on harnessing N.O. power that is later used to turn the park's structures into a large mech. Personality Tonkichi's personality is almost entirely represented by the Mr. Dodo persona. He can be shown to be serious when focused on work for the Bureau, but large portions of his job are entertaining young guests while waiting for the various park rides to be assembled. He frequently squawks and jumps around rapidly as part of this persona, which puts many guests at unease. Children sometimes call for Mr. Dodo and Tonkichi is happy to oblige them regardless of the opinions of his Bureau coworkers. His morals appear to be somewhat skewed however, exemplified by his interest when Marco's N.O. readings reach dangerous levels, his unhesitating collection of N.O. from park-goers that causes excruciating head pain, and the fact that he was more concerned with a device's success when he was spared during the mochi attack that mummified Mabase's citizens. Appearance Tonkichi is a weathered and wrinkly man with a cat-like mouth shape. His white eyebrows fan out at a slant to slightly cover his black eyes, which are almost always closed. He is mostly bald except for a line of white hair that starts slightly above his ears and stretches around the back of his head. He keeps the bushy locks at uneven lengths, the longest of which barely reaches his neck. He is only seen once out of costume. In this brief scene, he wears a brick-brown vest over a dark beige button-up and black trousers. As Mr. Dodo, he wears a baggy grey jumpsuit with a white fur collar and blue vest. Two black eyes sit on tan face that ends in a black-tipped beak with a nose hole on either end. The beak is in a constant smile and is capable of opening for him to speak. The head is adorned with a blue daredevil helmet held on by a red ribbon tied in a bow. This ribbon is slightly darker than the red feather tuft coming out of the top of the helmet. The mech that the park transforms into somewhat resembles a dodo in appearance as well due to a beak-like mouthpiece. Story Tonkichi is one of three integral members of the Bureau of Interstellar Immigration in Progressive. He watches over the Bureau's weapon, disguised as an amusement park, and tests its various parts. When the time comes to attack the factory, he also collects the N.O. to power it and controls its mech form. He breaks out of the iron's mochi counter-attack thanks to the Mr. Dodo suit's protection, pulling out a strange controller-like device that confirms the iron has shut down. He is last seen having tea in the extended credits sequence at the rubble that will be remade into Café Hibari. Relations Masurao and Eye Patch As a member of the Bureau and covert runner of their amusement park weapon, Tonkichi is called several times by the two men to give status reports. This happens suddenly during working hours for Tonkichi, forcing him to split his attention between reporting on the park's progress and directing guests' attention away to keep his cover from being blown. They find his dedication to the Mr. Dodo portion of his cover ridiculous. Marco Nogata Tonkichi hires Marco to work at the park in LooPQR. He uses him as a tester for the newly-arrived Viking Cruise ship ride, failing to inform him that it causes and measures N.O. activity. As a result of bumping heads with Hidomi earlier and getting on this ride, a new N.O. channel in Marco's head sprouts a bamboo shoot. This shoot grinds into the concrete when the ride does a flip, the resulting tension launching him off the ride. He returns to the job later to test out a duck ride during the park's mech transformation in Our Running, which may or may not make use of his N.O. channel as well. Gallery Amusement-park.png Mr-dodo.png Casual-tonkichi.png Trivia Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Progressive